


In Essence

by ValidAsshole



Category: Naruto
Genre: Gen, how can you love a little brother you havent seen in years?, in truth... itachis love is not as selfless as he makes it out to be., no editing we die like fools, or something, this is just itachi introspective, whats love anyways???????????????, with kisame poking holes at him
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-31
Updated: 2020-01-31
Packaged: 2021-02-25 05:13:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 953
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22490623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ValidAsshole/pseuds/ValidAsshole
Summary: A conversation between Itachi and Kisame.
Relationships: Uchiha Itachi & Uchiha Sasuke
Kudos: 21





	In Essence

Walking along this long stretch of road, it’s quiet, almost unbearably so. Itachi’s blood is singing with the blood of Konoha and visiting the village has taken more from him than he wished. Seeing Sasuke has taken more than he wished.

“Your _Otouto_ , huh?”

He forgets sometimes, that leaving means that Sasuke has grown and _changed_ without him. It’s what he wants, isn’t it? For Sasuke to grow powerful enough to protect himself, to live a life not burdened by the sins of the Uchiha clan. For Sasuke to kill Itachi, end it all, and then be able to live happily, is that not what he wanted?

“Hn.” A simple answer he never wanted to make it easy for Kisame to pry.

Hate was easy, he knew. Knew it since he was a child pushed out of war and forced to acclimate to something different. Every moment of his life pushed to be better. His distant father and his Oh So Loving mother, his mother who sometimes felt even more distant than his father at times with her Love, one he couldn’t understand. 

(She had cried, when he graduated from the academy. His father had put a hand on her back, pulling her into a hug, him between them, and he’d wondered why they were sad, hadn’t it been what they wanted? Even now, it brings only confusion - this notion that the naivety of childhood should be preserved. He thinks he can get a glimpse of it when he thinks of Sasuke, and then he thinks of how strong Sasuke must be to survive Konoha, and throws those thoughts aside.)

“You didn’t look happy to see him at all.” 

He loves Sasuke most of all, more than anything else, more than himself, and more than Konoha. He would have burned the world down for Sasuke, if it had been needed. He still would, but seeing Sasuke today, it hadn’t felt as pleasing as it should.

“You love him, don’t you?” Kisame continues, not bothering to wait for a response that Itachi did not want to give. He was as polite outside of battle as he was bloodthirsty in it, but even so, he had the habit to hit the nail on the head without even seeming to try.

“He is mine.” _His_ Otouto, _his_ brat, _his_ to-be killer, _his_ reason.

What is love if not something that burned you to the core?

And didn’t Sasuke show that so wonderfully when he looked at him? He’d been careful to only reflect cold indifference back at Sasuke, so that no one would think he was a weak point, he told himself. So that Sasuke Couldn’t grow to forgive him, so that Sasuke could Love him and Absolve him, love his Older brother enough to Kill him when he is too far to reach. That was what love was, wasn’t it?

“Ah.” And Itachi has a moment to wonder what exactly it was Kisame had seen.

But then why… why when he looked at him, had he not recognized the child that was supposed to be his brother at all. 

“You don’t really know what love is, do you? It seems more to me like you are using him as a way to justify your own actions, more than anything else, Itachi-san.”

He’s grown hard, and hateful, just as Itachi raised him to be. 

~~He hadn’t raised him. Not really. Not as busy as they all were. Sasuke was raised in parts and pieces and fingertaps, and he took it in stride, showering them all in a blistering optimism. Alleviating their hate, if only in the background, if only just for Itachi.~~

He’s…

He’s not what he’s supposed to be. He’s hard in the wrong places. Does not love Konoha as he should, is too rash, too focused so much on Itachi he ignores all else. It will lead him to ruin, after this is all over, he thinks. 

Sasuke can be whatever he wishes to be and Itachi will support him, but the only thing Itachi cannot abide by is Sasuke being so lost he cannot look forward even the slightest. It is not befitting of a Shinobi, an Uchiha, a being as perfect as Sasuke should be.

“I don’t know what you mean by that.” A side glance, a warning.

And there was some merit to it. If he thinks about it hard enough, past his overwhelming Love, was Sasuke prospering truly what he wanted. No, it was cruel but……

But he only wanted to die in a way that mattered. In a way that moved things forward. He thinks Sasuke could do it, could change things. But putting it on his shoulders was a bit naive of him. Well, it _is_ why he must get Sasuke to grow stronger; he is still so unbearably _weak_.

“They grow up so fast don’t they? He’s no longer truly yours anymore. Did you not see how the jinchuruki rushed to protect him? Right now, he follows his precious Older Brother, but how long until he’s forgotten you?”

A silence.

“That’s what you’re always thinking, huh.” 

It is, isn’t it? He knows the hate that he has fostered in Sasuke won’t live so quickly after his death. And he doesn’t quite want it to, wants Sasuke to hate him for all of time. He loves Sasuke more than anything else in this world, but maybe, all he wants is for it all to end. His love for Sasuke is in part a want for himself. If Sasuke hates him in the end, he’ll die knowing he did something right.

“You’re quite selfish.” 

A grin full of teeth and a chortle. 

“I’ve never claimed to be anything else.”

**Author's Note:**

> who said who's selfish??? both of them lmao. read that part as you will XD


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